Tuesday, 26 February 2013

One of the new products from CHA that caught my eye was Glitz's roller doodle stamps - I know roller stamps have been around for ages, but somehow I missed having a go with them! The stamps come in 2 sizes a large and tiny, I decided to have a go with the tiny camera roller and the larger chevron roller.

For my page I tried to use them in a few different ways - a quick roll down the edge of a strip of paper with the camera one, but I also used it to make my own camera embellishment using it to make a camera backing paper for the wood veneer.

I covered my chevron roller with yellow ink to make an arrow feature and then also used it across the top of the page with black ink....which is where I noticed it makes a really nice fade effect, a bit ombreish, so I had a go with this on a card.

I used red, orange and yellow ink to make this faded background for my card. I inked the roller and then did one stripe which comes out the darkest and just keep rolling without re-inking the stamp, then switch to a lighter colour and do the same so you get a nice fade.

They are really easy to use, I did ink them with both large and small ink pads....but obviously the larger ink pads are a lot easier to ink them with! Also I love the designs so I can see myself adding more to my collection!

Friday, 22 February 2013

Well,so far so good! If you remember this post I decided to make a page a month with the lovely papers from Graphic 45.

I love the way there are so many elements on the sheets you can cut out and use - I've slipped a little tag with some hidden journalling under the photo and punched some hearts with leftovers from the papers

You can buy the whole range of these here AND there are some fab new ranges in recently too- including these lovely little wood embellishments.It's not one of the clearest photos of us but I love it as it captured a moment.

Thursday, 21 February 2013

On Sunday we went for a day trip to Birmingham NEC for Stitches trade show. We had already placed the majority of our orders either direct with manufacturers or with distributors since CHA however it is always nice to get an up close look at some of the products on offer and also to see what's new or interesting.

I forgot my camera but took a few snaps with my phone.

In terms of scrapbooking things we saw some Bo Bunny, some Fancy Pants and some Carta Bella which we didn't already have on order but will order now. Also some of the things which didn't look so good in the manufacturers previews were much nicer in real life :)

Of course it is lovely to wander round the show and admire all the lovely samples - the Paperartsy stand didn't disappoint with an array of beautiful samples.

And of course there are always those that go the extra mile - for example this car which was being decorated in decopatch!!!

Sorry there are not more photos, can't believe I forgot the camera! I also picked up some make & take ideas for the retreat :)

Keep an eye out for more products arriving in store over the coming weeks as the CHA and Stitches orders come in.

Tuesday, 19 February 2013

I loved Debbie's choice of papers and colours for her class at the Eclectic Keepsakes crop.My Mind's Eye is always a favourite of mine. I stayed pretty close to Debbie's layout and the cutting out was right up my street as I love to sit and snip away! Here's my version- I changed the background to a bluey one as It seemed to go a bit better with the snowy theme.

Monday, 18 February 2013

I really loved Debbies LO and it was once again good to be a bit more inventive with papers which would not usually be my style, I find them beautiful individually but would not usually use so many busy patterns together.

I took Debbies design and amended it to suit the photos I had. I was a late booking and originally thought there would not be enough kits ofr me to have one so I didn't prepare photos. I ended up using a single 5x5 photo instead of the two on Debbies LO. I also wanted to offset my circles rather than keep them equal but as ever it was wonderful to take a class packed full of inspiration but also know that the teacher would not freak out if a little freestyling went on!

My photo was of the kids and the dog so I didn't feel "The Story OF Us" would work as a title but I liked the die cut so positionned it so only "The Story" was visible.

I am NOT a patient hand cutter and found it a chore to cut out all those flowers. In the end I was going to give up and go more minimal but my lovely friend Debs stepped in and cut me a few more while I was assembling the layout so it would have been rude (and daft) not to use them!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing our individual takes on Debbies class - I think Denise also did the class and I expect she will share her creation at some point too!

Saturday, 16 February 2013

Those of you who have been to the retreats might remember that we had some lovely MME Lost & Found 12x12 pads which included three each of 18 different papers from the individual collections within the Lost and Found range. I have always loved Lost & Found Union Square and so I removed one of each paper from the Union Square pad and worked with that at a collection pack. So far I have made 6 or 7 page starters and I still have lots of paper left!

I like having a stack of these as a go to when I know I have only a short amount of time to spare as it is a case of adding the photo (I have already selected a few possibles which will work with this collection) adding embellishments, journaling and a title.

Watch out for the completed layouts coming soon!

Tomorrow we are off to Stitches (Craft Hobby & Stitch International trade show) the UKs trade show for crafts. We placed the vast majority of our orders direct for CHA product and some of it is already coming through but it is nice to go and see what else is on offer and to see product in real life - there are sometimes surprises when things which were just "meh!" on the previews turn out to be much nicer than you thought!

MY version of Debbies LO from last weeks Eclectic Keepsakes is coming soon!

Thursday, 14 February 2013

Rather than the usual Be my Valentine which whilst it's nice to receive does feel a little daft given I've been married ten years I decided to make my husband an "Always" card this year.

Using left overs after creating a couple of layouts from My Minds Eye papers received in my February DT kit I made a quick and simple card with a matching gift card holder. Both will go in the same envelope and the gift card for Cineworld (future date nights, he can supply the popcorn!!) will tuck in the red envelope of the card holder. Quick, simple and so much nicer than a "be mine" when he already is!!

See these projects and more in the forthcoming MME February DT Gallery.
Have a lovely day whatever you do x

Wednesday, 13 February 2013

As promised a few days ago, and having dug out my camera to photograph, I am sharing my version of Debbie MME layout taught at Eclectic Keepsakes crop earlier this month. I opted for a less patterned paper on my background, just the one photo rather than two and think I was a circle short in the layering too but here is my page.

I loved all the hand cutting of the floral paper which looks so effective layered up on the page. Look out for more of the team sharing their versions soon.

Tuesday, 12 February 2013

I know not all of you like to get messy....but I thought I would show you how I made my green inky background a couple of weeks ago - so bit more of a technique on Tuesday than a trend!

You need a water spray, some spray inks - I have Cosmic Shimmers Golden Mint, Peacock Green, Aqua Lagoon and a heat gun, though you can let it dry naturally but this will give it a slightly different effect - try it out! I used an old pizza box to protect my surfaces and try and limit the splatter.

Start with a good spritzing of water across the page - don't completely soak the paper (or it gives you a different more watery effect - I like to have a few dryer areas so the splatter from the spray stays as it would do normally). I think you can just about see the puddles and drier areas of the cardstock in the photo.

When you have worked out where you want the inkiness to be (mine is mainly at the top of the page) then give a couple of spritzes of one of the lighter colours this is the mint green the water just helps the colour to run a bit more.

Then add some spritzes of the darker colours - my paper had dried a little so

Add a few more spritzes of water over the top and you can see the colours starting to run into each other.

With the heat gun start to dry the page - you can push the ink around and make drips and darker areas, also with the cosmic shimmers you get a really nice mica sheen when it is dry.

As you can see my page is fairly warped so it is now under a pile of books, once the page is in your album it will flatten out anyway. If you want to try it on a smaller scale for cards then watercolour paper would help it not to crinkle so much.

Monday, 11 February 2013

This month the design team gallery will feature a host of goodness using My Minds Eye projects including this rather lovely layout taught by our Debbie at the Eclectic Keepsakes crop early this month.

Plenty of circles to cut out along with details from the papers which are rather more lovely in real life than any image can show.

There were a few of the design team in attendance including Karen (who runs the crop in Colchester), newest member Denise, not to mention Mel and myself too. As such there are plenty of slight variations on Debbies class to share... now I just need to photograph mine and I can do just that! Hopefully the others will pop on and share theirs too. Don't forget to pop back later in the month to see the DT gallery full of MME goodness.

Sunday, 3 February 2013

So following on from this post I am pleased to report I scrapped that photo of Izzy and her Nana.

I am really going to make this the year that I rectify some of the glaring omissions in my albums.

I am also going to ensure that there are photos available for me to do this. I have got much better at being photographed with the children myself - I still don't enjoy it but I DO want my kids to see that I was actually there on those family outings, at Christmas, on holiday or in their day to day lives! On this subject a friend on facebook shared this article about being photographed which really hit home and applies to lots of us.